How should I connect the conductive panel for monopolar RF treatment?

Posted by
theSPAelf
on March 20, 2015

The conductive panel from the monopolar RF machine is the negative electrode that establishes the electric loop by pairing with the monopolar RF head. That's why this is called monopolar(or unipolar) RF. So it always needs the conductive panel together to work.

Theoretically, the conductive panel can be placed on anywhere of the user's body(skin). The user(client) can even touch it by hand during the treatment. To make it easy and comfortable, some therapists would simply put the conductive panel under the client's bottom(waist, buttock, or thighs bottom), and some therapists would put it on the client's body and then put the client's hand on it. However, the experience shows that these 2 ways can result differently. The second way seems to work better. Why?

The reason is that, when we put the conductive panel at the bottom of the client, the other side of the conductive panel is touching to the facial chair or the massage bed. If the bed or chair has a metal frame or base, part of the RF energy will be conducted to the ground through this bed. Then the client in the treatment is not gaining all the energy you configure for her. And the RF head would feel less warmer. How much energy is "stolen" by the ground depends on how conductive the bed is. The more energy missing, the less warmer you feel from the RF head.

You may doubt that your facial bed has sponge and leather cover and should be isolated. But the experience shows that the leather is not always isolated after it has been used for some time. The clients lying on it will sweat sometimes. Also we often use wet cloth to clean the surface. So sometimes the leather is just a little moist and become kind of conductive. We have tested that even the user is lying on the carton and the RF head will become obviously less heating.

Therefore, the most working method is to place the conductive panel ON the client(with a hand touching on) or simply let the client hold it by hand. In this case, all the RF energy should be circled through the body.

Some monopolar RF machines also develop the conductive panel into a conductive wand so that the client can simply grasp it in hand during the treatment.